Page 104 - RusRPTApr20

9.1.7 TMT sector news
9.1.9 Tourism sector news
International tourism in Russia will receive RUB25bn ($321.52mn) of losses, domestic - RUB12bn ($154.33mn), if most of the tourist destinations do not open before September, Executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Maya Lomidze told Tass on March 24. "In February we announced the total loss of 27bn, I said that this figure includes the total amount of cancelled tours sold up until September, as of mid- February. Since then, the dynamics of sales has not changed much, but RUB27bn is not a net loss, but the money that was paid to partners and did not return, and the money that all tourists could use for in all directions," she added.
Russia's tourism sector has already taken a RUB27bn ($406mn) hit from the impact of coronavirus, the head of the Russian Association of Tour Operators said on Thursday in a plea for government support. The coronavirus outbreak has caused havoc across the global travel industry as companies restrict employee trips, airlines axe flights, major events are postponed and holidaymakers choose to stay at home or delay their travel. Russia has restricted flights to China, Iran and South Korea and warned against travel to those countries, as well as to Italy, which is a popular destination for Russian tourists. In the first week of March, the number of bookings with Russian tour operators has slumped 20% to 25% from the previous week, with some agencies reporting no sales at all, lobby group chief Maya Lomidze told a news conference in Moscow. The industry is not only struggling with a fall in demand. Tour operators must refund cancelled trips to countries such as Italy that have been designated dangerous by the government following the outbreak, the letter said. Foreign tourists are still coming to Russia but the lobby group has seen a wave of cancellations by tour groups from Asian countries and expects 20% to 25% fewer tourists from the region to visit this year compared with 2019.
104 RUSSIA Country Report April 2020 www.intellinews.com